


Things fall apart, things get put back together

by Melinda_May (Effie_Peletier)



Category: How I Met Your Mother
Genre: Couple, Cute, F/M, Fluffy, How I Met Your Mother - Freeform, Swarkels, alt ending, ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-07
Updated: 2014-09-07
Packaged: 2018-02-16 13:36:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2271711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Effie_Peletier/pseuds/Melinda_May
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based after the (leaked) Alt ending to How I Met Your Mother - if you've not seen it check it, I say its much better than the original, although it still doesn't satisfy everything I needed. (Also, Elle doesn't exist.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things fall apart, things get put back together

"Robin and I are back together!" Barney announced proudly, shooting a glance over to Robin who sat beside him grinning. Her hand on his knee under the table just made him all the more happy.  
A squeal from the other side of the table made him look over to Lily, who was now clapping her hands together.  
"Oohhh!!" she managed to say after she silenced her excitement. "Tell me everything!! How, when?? Where???"  
She was like the old her, not sapped of energy all the time from the 'full time mother' job that she'd taken on.  
"Well ~" Barney started, a smirk sliding onto his face "It happened at Ted's wedding..." 

***  
Barney leaned against the bar chatting to the blonde that stood next to him.  
Today, he was himself, although with some added flare to his personality, he was a trainee fire fighter, and just before coming to the wedding he'd saved three women and their children from a burning house down the street, _without ___any back up or safety gear.  
He'd had everything set for a good night until he'd spied Robin alone in the corner with a drink.  
It wasn't that he didn't want the blonde, but it was hard for him to see the only woman that he'd ever loved alone, especially on a day that held so many memories of the past, for both of them.  
Sighing, Barney turned to the blonde and brushed her off, not the first time he'd done something like that for Robin Scherbatsky. 

Sliding his hands into his pockets he milled over to her and leaned against the wall beside her, smirking and looking deep into those eyes that he knew so well. He could feel his heart quickening just thinking about what they used to have, something that had fallen apart, something that he craved every second of everyday, just her touch. His throat tight with the thought he swallowed.  
"Hi Robin." he managed, trying to keep his cool.  
"Hey Barney." She greeted, her tone a little brighter than expected.  
He cleared his throat a little.  
"How are things?" he asked, a little awkwardly, wanting to get to the point but not wanting to her to leave if he mentioned it.  
Robin shrugged slightly, nodding into her shoulder, looking to the floor then back up at Barney, he could see tears started to form in her eyes, but he knew that she was too strong willed to let them spill over when they were in a crowded place.  
He placed a warm hand on her shoulder and led her to a side room, where they could talk a little more privately, he'd always had time for Robin, nothing about that had changed. His feelings for her had never changed, and they never would.  
"Robin talk to me." he said, pushing her slightly to let him in. If the three years they had been married taught him anything it was that she would tell him. 

She had started to cry, not a lot, but enough to warrant Barney to pull her into his arms and slowly rub soft circles on her back.  
Sniffing Robin began to talk.  
"I hardly see you anymore, not just you but, Lily and Ted, and Marshall..." she paused, pulling out of his arms a little to look at him square in the face. "I know that everyone is busy, and that life isn't going to go back to what it was, with us at the bar, drinking and having fun... but - when you and I were married, I had a friend, but now - I don't..."  
"Oh hey no - I'm still your friend, and so are the others." Barney responded, his hand cupping her cheek. "You know you always have me right here..." his thumb brushed away a tear, his features soft as his eyes scanned her face. It was breaking his heart hearing her say these words to him.  
He now more than ever wished that they had never split.  
It was the biggest regret he ever had. That he probably would ever have.  
She shook her head slightly in his palm.  
"But things between us - they could never be the same... I ruined all that... because of damn wifi!" she was angry with herself, all the things that she and Barney had gone through and the last straw was wifi. They hadn't even _tried_ to sort it out, she'd just offered him a way out, and he'd agreed, although she didn't know, he did it rather reluctantly, because he'd never actually wanted things to fall apart, he had thought it was what she wanted.  
"No - no it was my fault, all mine, it was just a stupid blog, something I thought I couldn't live without, but it turns out that - the thing I was scared of loosing I lost that day." his voice faltered on the last word, biting his lip so that he didn't crumble into a sobbing mess like her. That wouldn't get them any where.

Robin broke from him and went over to the window that led out to the balcony.  
The reception was being held in one of Ted's favourite buildings, one just across from the WWN building. Robin's favourite place in the city.  
She'd decided to go outside, she needed some air, the words that Barney and her were exchanging, they were hard for her to handle. But they were words that needed to be said, needed to be out in the open, they would help them heal. Right?  
Barney's eyes had not left Robin as she'd walked away, every fibre of his being telling him to follow her, as his eyes caught sight of the building outside. He remembered the day he'd decided that she was the one. The one to change for. The one to become a proper man for. Because he loved her, with every cell in his body, with every inch of his soul. Everything he wanted was standing on that balcony.  
He followed her outside. 

*** 

"Hang on - I need to pee." came Marshall's voice, breaking the story. Lily shot him a glace that said something along the lines of, _hurry the hell up I have to hear the rest! ___Marshall slunk off to the bathroom as quickly as he could.  
"Well I'm glad you two are together again! Our little group is finally back!" Ted grinned, nudging Tracy with his shoulder slightly. "And of course, we've gained one, since the old days I mean..." he grinned at her, she grinned back.  
"As celebration I'm going to get another round in - don't tell another word until I get back." Tracy said getting up and going over to the bar.  
"You snagged a keeper there Ted." Barney said, grinning at his friend. "Why if I wasn't with this one," he nodded at Robin, "and she wasn't everything I ever wanted, I'd chase that one down - - - " he chuckled lowly, " and you know - a bang bang bangity bang~" he started to sing their old song, just as Marshall got back and slid into his space.  
"Hey! I thought we'd paused the story!" He moaned slightly. Lily chuckled.  
"That isn't part of it!" she explained.  
"Yet!" Robin chimed in winking at Barney - the table began to laugh as Tracy came back and handed drinks out.  
It felt good to laugh with them all again. It seemed like forever since they last had shared a laugh like that.  
It almost felt like the good old days. Almost.  
"So where was I?" Barney asked, after the laughter had died down.  
"The balcony." Lily said, the eager glint returned to her eyes as Barney began once again reciting how he and Robin had gotten back together. 

*** 

"Do you still remember how I proposed to you?" he asked from the door way of the balcony, looking out at the dark Manhattan skyline, framed within it was Robin, her back to him.  
"Yes." Came a small whisper of her voice in the breeze that played through her hair.  
"You look even more beautiful tonight than you did then."  
She turned to face him, wiping the last tear away from her cheek.  
He moved forward.  
"I've never forgotten a single breath I took that evening. It was one of the longest seconds of my life before you said your answer." he continued "You were the single greatest thing I ever wanted, the only one that I _ever ___even remotely thought about when I wasn't with some bimbo." he paused here, probably not the time to mention his bimbo days.  
"The point is - I've never stopped loving you - and I never will, until the day my heart decides to kill itself from all the awesome blood pumping through it!" he grinned, and he was pleased to see that he'd managed to curve some sort of smile onto Robin's lips.  
"But the truth is. My heart, it can't go on much longer without the help of your awesomeness. Its tired, and it needs you - as it always has."  
Robin's expression was a hard one to read. But it was a mix of probably sadness and something else.  
A small sigh rolled off her lips as she moved close to him, their noses inches from each other's.  
His heart was in his mouth. Beating like a trooper on drugs as he tried to fathom his thoughts so he could make a sentence.  
He opened his mouth to speak, but was silenced by Robin placing her slender finger over his lips.  
"I love you Barney Stinson." she mumbled lowly, taking her finger off his lips and replacing it with her own.  
A fire burnt in his stomach as the oh so familiar lips touched his, his arms coming round her waist, pulling her closer to him, making sure that this wasn't some sort of vivid dream. Her arms snaked around his neck, holding them together in a moment that transported them back to the top of the WWN building. Where they had finally accepted that they wanted to be together. That they belonged together. 

The kiss seemed to last forever, and it was something that - they would each come to realise - they wanted to last forever.  
It was a mix of emotion as they finally broke apart, their arms remaining around one another, not yet ready to part completely.  
Robin was the first to make any sort of noise, clearing her throat a little as she lowered her gaze, only for Barney to bring it back up to his eyes as he planed a soft kiss on her forehead.  
"I was a fool to ever let you escape." he stated into the small gap between their faces. "And I'm not going to let that happen again." he added, his thoughts only on her now. She consumed him, the only thing to ever capture the whole of him. That was the woman that stood tight, in his arms.  
"Maybe - we should keep this to ourselves for now..." she suggested, "we don't want to outshine the bride and groom."  
Barney nodded. "Right."  
A genuine smile crossed Robin's lips, they turned to face the WWN building, and the rest of New York, his arms around her waist, her hands holding his as they watched the night creep by. The only thoughts that crossed their minds were ones of each other.  
Their journey had been rough, and there were a lot of holes in it. But what mattered was where they ended up, and for them, as long as it ended with them together, they were happy with what happened along the way.  
The truth was, they were each others, heart and soul, and nothing was ever going to get in the way of that.  
They would make sure of it.  
This time. They would be together forever.  
No doubt about that. 

*** 

"So you kept it a secret?! For 5 months?" Lily asked, a little shocked. "Damn Robin! I thought we were besties!" Robin chuckled light heartedly.  
"We wanted to see if it would work out..." her eyes turned to Barney with a smile plastering itself over her lips.  
His stomach danced a little as she placed her head on his shoulder, a warm smile covering his own lips as his heart warmed.  
"As you can see we're good." he finished, kissing the top of her head.  
"Awww..." Lily couldn't contain the sound as she watched her friends, she took Marshall's hand in hers and smiled at him. Tears of happiness in her eyes. Marshall pecked her lips and then checked his watch.  
"Damn - we should go. Children you know." he said, getting up, followed by Lily.  
"Sorry guys, another time yeah?" she said, patting Robin's hand before going to leave.  
Ted and Tracy also moved to get up -  
"We should go too guys. Sorry."  
"Yeah sorry."  
Barney and Robin shrugged, getting up and hugging their friends individually.  
"We'll get together soon." Barney said as they left.  
He turned back to Robin who was standing smiling at him.  
"We could finish our drinks..." she said, motioning to the two that stood on the table nearly untouched.  
"Or - or..." Barney raised his eyebrow and smirked, grabbing Robin into his arms he kissed her and then almost pulling her arm out of the socket he pulled her out of McLaren's and into a cab before she could get another word out, just a laugh. 

***2 Months Later *** 

Lily, Marshall, Ted, Tracy, Barney and Robin sat in Lily and Marshall's apartment, smiles and drinks in hand. Swapping stories of their past couple months, things their children had achieved, work tragedies, happy tails, memories of times gone by.  
It felt like the old days again. But this time. It was. Because wherever their little group was, wherever they shared a laugh, exchanged stories, enjoyed each others company.  
That was home 


End file.
